THE recent good run for Bolton RUFC's Under-13s came to an end with a 5-3 defeat at Sale FC.

In the opening 10 minutes it was all Bolton pressure with wave after wave of relentless possession forcing Sale deep.

However, some fine defending from the home side and handling errors from Bolton meant the visitors came away with nothing to show for their efforts.

Despite the Cherry and Whites creating three good try-scoring opportunities, the hosts took the lead against the run of play when they crossed the halfway line for the first time to score 15 minutes in.

Bolton responded well with top scorer Leon Hodson jinking his way through for a solo effort to level the scores.

Sale began to match Bolton in all areas of the pitch and their passing game began to pay dividends as they made better use of their possession with a quick ball out to the flanks.

Forward Sam Atherton, along with Mark Glynn and Oliver Keogh in defence, put in some brilliant tackles for Bolton, but they could not prevent Sale opening up a 3-1 lead at the interval.

Bolton attacked from the first whistle in the second half but struggled in the scrums and Sale extended their lead to 5-1 through counter attacks.

Oliver Belle and Oskar Chadderton began to settle into their makeshift positions in the back line as Bolton tried to salvage something from the game.

And the comeback was on when Hodson ran in two tries in quick succession to complete his hat-trick and take his season's tally past 50 in the process.

Bolton finished the game the stronger side and would have had at least a share of the spoils had time not been against them.

The u13s are on the road again this weekend when they visit Manchester for another tough test.